BANNING REPORTERS.
Mayor Osmeña drove away a CDN reporter from a presscon in his City Hall office, without telling why. Not the first time he did it and he’s not the only public official who has done it
"I will be bent on choosing whom I shall bring here (at City Hall)." -- Then Cebu City mayor Michael Rama, on Feb. 5, 2015, threatening to ban reporters guilty of "wrong writing." Two months or so later, on April 23, he announced before Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) he had abandoned the threat
ON May 7, 2003, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña evicted from his office Sun.Star photographer Amper Campaña who was there to cover the courtesy call of a police official on the mayor.
Last Dec. 14, Tomas also banished from a press-con in his City Hall office “Cebu Daily News” reporter Jose Santino Bunachita.
In both occasions, the journalists weren’t being rude or anything that would prompt the host to kick out a guest (even if City Hall is not a public official’s home and is open to the public).
Trespassers?
The shaming was on the journalists. With many other people watching and listening:
-- Tomas told Amper the mayor’s office was not a “public toilet” one could just walk into (“Sun.Star pa
gyud, samot”), then ordered a guard to escort the photographer out of City Hall.
-- The mayor told Bunachita: “Santi, Santi... Leave! You are banned from my office. Don’t come back.” Tomas refused to give specifics, saying later, a “Freeman” story said, he didn’t want to have a “running battle” with the reporter in media.
In Amper’s case, he wasn’t there to socialize, surely not to pee, but to take photos of a visiting police official. He was granted permission by Tomas’s staff, including his bodyguard. Bunachita was also no trespasser. He was with the City Hall press corps. And both could’ve been quietly sent away if they could not be given early notice. This and past articles on media practices and accountability are also published in Sun.Star Online, www.sun.star.com.ph. Access by clicking (1) “Public and Standards Editor” at the foot of home page or (2) this icon:
Specifics
Giving specifics on the ban is important as it would enlighten the reporter concerned and his editor on whether they erred and how. As it was, the media outlet would be left guessing as to what prompted the drastic move. And other reporters needed to know if their colleague was not being bullied.
Minus the details from the mayor, one wouldn’t know if Amper was booted because of bad photos he took of Tomas, or Bunachita was sent out for inaccurate reports. And their papers wouldn’t know if it was the photographer’s or reporter’s fault or the editor’s. Many news sources don’t know who writes the head or caption of what changes take place after the material is submitted to editors.
Besides, the news source’s office can call up the editor or publisher to correct any any mis-reporting. That way, media managers can find out what went wrong and help avoid a repetition.
Can they do it?
But can the mayor or any other public official ban a reporter or any other journalist from a government office?
As chief of office, the mayor controls the flow of people into his place of work: who can get in or must get out.
In banning Bunachita though, Tomas took the risk of being criticized that (1) he couldn’t stand adverse news coverage; or (2) he wanted to discourage unfavorable publicity by using the ban as a club to cow reporters into submission.
The ban is considered by media watch groups as one of many tactics of public officials to try to manipulate journalists. Along with: leaking stories to favored reporters or media outlets, refusing to talk with reporters whose stories they find offensive, or even ridiculing at press-cons reporters’ published stories.
(Donald Trump didn’t just blacklist media outfits he found “unfair,” he would insult reporters in public rallies and would sic an angry crowd on them. He was a candidate then but that should give U.S. media some idea about what would happen if he’d continue to be mean once he’d assume office.)
Won’t sue
A media outlet whose City Hall reporter has been banished is highly unlikely to sue the public official responsible.
Not if the media group can still have ways to cover the said official, such as sending a replacement reporter or getting the story from a reporters’ pool and other sources. Tomas banned Sun.Star reporters in 2002 but soon relaxed his ban to allow a Sun.Star tape-recorder into the room. Perhaps finding that silly, he later allowed a reporter to go with the gadget.
The lawsuit may prosper here, as it does in the U.S., if the ban is total and there’s no alternative means to gather news. Right to public information is crucial to the media as part of free speech and as an industry.